A Medic's Last Hope
by SethBlackwolf
Summary: A medic is supposed to heal the injured. One broke this rule. The bloody Chop-Shop, Decepticon CMO. He was known for his cruelty. Suddenly he dissapeared. Where did he go? And Ratchet? The slag will it the fan.
1. Chapter 1

A Medic's Last Hope

Ch.1: The Legend of Chop-Shop

Sethblackwolf

Disclaimer: All I own is the plot and the idea of Chop-Shop

The Decepticons were ruthless. If you meet them in battle you have better hope you were either killed or you made it back to base to live another day. If you did indeed happen to be the unfortunate fragger then you better wish you die during the interrogation, lest they fix you up. There were a group of mechs more terrifying than Megatron. The Decepticon medics…

-Audio and Visual files recovered from Bluestreak-

The image was of a torture chamber, a dark mockery of a Med Bay. Everything about it defined how little the Decepticons cared about life. The ground, it seemed, _used_ to be white. Now it was a swirl of dark pink and gray caused by dried energon and grime, respectfully. A groan was heard from the left and the visual panned to see a Decepticon pull himself off an energon soaked exam table. His medic just snapped at him to go to the wash racks as he grabbed a hose and rinsed of the table. The diluted energon splashed onto the dirty floor but the medic made no move to clean that up. It seemed that _that_ was the extent of a Decepticon medic's belief in sanitation in the Med Bay. A low snarl came from the mech responsible for the recording. He was smacked for it.

"You're lucky that your voice box is damaged kid. I've had enough of your glossa." His attacker snarled. The video shook a bit as the recorder was shoved towards the medic. He slipped and fell on the wet floor. "Pathetic! Here Hook; Megatron wants him fixed up to survive another round of interrogation." The image was suddenly raised as the victim was dragged to his feet.

"Oh goodie…" The medic started to advance closer to the screen. There was shaking as the captive struggled to get away from Hook. A voice cut through the Med Bay.

"I'll take it from here, Hook. Your shift's over." The visual panned right to see a 'sore thumb'. This mech was all white with a grey face and a blue chevron. His optics were lava red. An easy, gentle smile appeared on the newcomer's face but both Hook and the captor shook in obvious fear.

"Sure Chop-Shop." Chop-Shop glanced at the guard with a small frown. The guard gulped and raced out of the Med Bay. Suddenly the image went up to the ceiling. Four clicks in rapid succession were heard. The medic's head came into view.

"The shackles are for your own good. We can't risk you flopping around and have me cut something I shouldn't, can we?" He raised a hand that transformed into a laser scalpel. The screen started to shake. Chop-Shop turned his attention from the scalpel to the bound Autobot. "I hope you understand that we have so little sedatives that we have to save them for the high ranking Decepticons." He brought the scalpel down. "It's a good thing that no one can hear you scream."

The next time the video came online it was to the sight of that disturbed medic. He was sprawled on the ground covered in energon against the Med Bay doors. It looked like he was drunk off High Grade but from what the captive could see, a path of bloody footprints led away from the table and straight to the medic and no High Grade. Chop-Shop raised a shaking, bloody servo to his faceplates. Their optics locked and Chop-Shop had a brief moment of sanity. There was regret and sorrow in those red optics. Just as quickly as it came it was gone. Chop-Shop's glossa came out and licked the energon off his hand. Suddenly, a resounding boom shook the base. Megatron's voice came over the speakers.

"The Autobots are on the attack!"

-Video Ended-

Chop-Shop was legendary among all Cybertronians for his warped and cruel bedside manner. He was also considered the best medic on Cybertron to both sides.

Autobots believed that he got that way because he was corrupted by Megatron to become a torturer as well as a healer. The Decepticon soldiers though that he was like that because he was Megatron's berth mate. The slag maker did not need nor desire to have a quivering femme as his pleasure drone. Of cource, no one said this in front of Chop-Shop. Anymech that did disappeared and the Decepticon Med Bay suddenly got a small shipment of spare parts.

Chop-Shop didn't so much as die but he did disappear in battle one day. He was running towards a downed Decepticon when the ground beneath him collapsed. They never did find his body.

It was quite a few centuries afterwards and everyone had forgotten what Chop-Shop looked like. Optimus Prime was briefing his new CMO, a white and red mech by the name of Ratchet.


	2. Chapter 2

A medic's last hope

Ch. 2: Past scars will not heal

Sethblackwolf

A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed and put this story on their alerts/favorites. It means a lot to me.

Disclaimer: Same as chapter one

A/N: In this story I'm having Wheeljack be Ratchet's older brother. No one else knows though. Heads up, this story has a lot of dark moments throughout but I promise that it will get lighter with each chapter. Ratchet is very OC! All energon is blood, with the exception of the kind they drink.

"Damn fraggers! Do they think I have nothing better to do than repair their stupid afts after every prank that goes haywire?" Ratchet grumbled to himself as he finished repairs on an off-lined Sunstreaker. Wheeljack just flashed his head fins in amusement as he finished up Sideswipe.

"Has it occurred to you that they might be trying to get a certain someone's attention?" Ratchet scoffed as he turned to his long time friend.

"That's a stupid way of getting attention. Of course, if it was to get the attention of a therapist…" The CMO left off with a grin. The inventor could only shake his head pityingly. Ratchet might be the best Autobot medic but he was just so dense! Never the less, it was not his place to say.

"If you're the resident expert on courting, then explain to me how one would go about gaining _**your**_ attentions." He got his answer by means of a wrench hitting him in the face plates.

"Frag off Wheeljack. Now, if you have nothing better to do, GET OUT OF MY MED BAY!" Wheeljack chuckled but one threatening wave of another wrench was enough to send him scurrying back to the safety of his lab. Ratchet watched the Med Bay doors for a few minutes before shaking his head. Wheeljack was his first friend and the only one who could bring him back to reality when Ratchet started to become… someone else. The ambulance sighed and turned around to check on his charges. He almost had a spark attack when he found that both twins were online and looking at him. Well, Sideswipe had a slag eating grin and Sunstreaker had a dark smirk. "How long were you two online?"

"Long enough," Sunstreaker said. "so…" he let the sentence hang and his brother picked it up.

"How does one court the famous Ratchet the Hatchet?" Ratchet glared; shaking in barely restrained fury.

"I-I…" The twins spared each other a surprised glance at each other before giving Ratchet a hopeful look.

"Yes?" Clang! Clang!

"Ow!" The lambo's clutched their heads. "Ratchet, we're being serio-ow!" Apparently, Ratchet wasn't done using them as a stress reliever.

"What I…" Clang! "…would like…" Clang! "…in a pair of…" Clang! "…bondmates is for them to not be idiots that get themselves slagged and in my Med Bay every solar cycle!" With that Ratchet threw them out and into Jazz and locked the door behind them.

"I take it that I shouldn't be goin' in there unless I'm dyin'?" Sideswipe threw his hands up in frustration.

"All we asked was how one would court the cranky aft!" Jazz raised an optic ridge.

"And?"

"He hit us…" Sunny growled. The TIC rolled his optics.

"That I can see. Did Ratchet _**say**_ anything?" The twins repeated the conversation. Afterwards, Jazz laughed out loud.

"I fail to see the humor in this!" Sideswipe snarled, roughly shoving Jazz into the wall. The saboteur was still chuckling as he held his servos up in surrender.

"Sorry guys. How 'bout this? Once you figure out that Ratchet gave you his answer, try to get him to come to the party I'm hosting in the rec room tomorrow. You two can work your magic there." With that Jazz left them to go find Prowl.

Meanwhile, the scene inside the Med Bay was not as hilarious. When Ratchet went to his office took a glance at the berths and slammed himself up against the wall. The three outside didn't hear it because that was the exact same time that Sideswipe slammed Jazz into the wall. Ratchet's optics were wide in fear as he stared at the energon covered berths. He covered his audios with his servos to try to get rid of the steady drip of the energon splashing into the puddles beside the berths. The medic quickly contacted Wheeljack over the comlink.

_:'Jack! H-help me!:_

_ :What is it Ratch'?:_

_ :E-energon…:_

_ :What? Hold on, I'll be right there.:_

_ :I yelled at them when they came back online. T-they surprised me. I couldn't clean it up r-right away.:_

_ :It's alright Ratchet. I'm almost there.:_

_ :*chuckle* *snort*:_

_ :Ratchet?:_ Wheeljacks energon ran cold as a calm, sweet, voice came from the comlink.

_:It's alright Wheeljack…:_ In the Med Bay Ratchet laid lethargically on the ground with a smile on his face as he looked at the energon. He finger tapped the floor in time to the drip of the energon. His blue optics were being invaded by a red stain. _:It's what I was waiting for.:_

_ :What?: _Ratchet chuckled as he crawled towards the puddle.

_:They know… they must know my feelings for them.:_ The medic stopped once he reached the puddle. He sat back on his legs with a contemplative look. _:It's the reason I left them.:_

_ :The only reason you were with __**them**__ and struggling to save the scraps of sanity you had left is because I failed to protect you!:_ Ratchet continued as if he never heard his brother speak.

_:I saw them fight so savagely on the battlefield yet back each other up. They're the ones brother. They can control me! They won't like a dainty medbot that's afraid to give or receive pain. Don't worry. Megatron got me over that.:_

_ :Megatron twisted and broke you into the mess you're showing me now!:_ Ratchet flinched as Wheeljack yelled. The handles of the Med Bay doors jiggled as Wheeljack tried to get in.

_:W-why are you mad at me? Oh! Y-you think Megatron…? No! Regardless of what the grunts thought we never did. They will have all of me! Do you think they will like that?:_ Wheeljack groaned in frustration as he started to type in the override codes.

_:Do you honestly think that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe will even __**want**__ a messed up ex-con that should be put in the loony bin?:_ There was a sudden hitch from inside the room. Energon started to gather at Ratchet's optics. _:Slag it! Ratchet, I didn't mean it!:_

_ :Y-you're right.:_ The medic swirled a servo into the pool of the twins' energon. _:If I can't have the bots themselves…:_ The Med Bay doors opened but Ratchet just brought the stained servo to optic level. _:…I'll settle for a piece of them…:_ He leaned in and stuck his glossa out. But before he could lick the mess off a servo grabbed his wrist and Ratchet was engulfed in a tight hug.

"Don't do that Ratch'. I know you. I know how you feel about them. It might have started when you were with the Decepticons but your love for them is pure. Please, don't stain it. I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it. They are good for you." Ratchet's optics started to go back to normal. "Sunny and Sides are more than able to keep you grounded. You won't fade with them watching over you." Wheeljack was surprised when Ratchet recuperated the hug. Suddenly the medic got out of his brother's embrace and opened a cabinet. The inventor sighed as he saw the cleaning utensils and hose. Wheeljack watched silently as Ratchet dropped a sponge into a now filled bucket of water and cleanser. Ratchet took the soapy sponge and scrubbed at the mess. He then rinsed the sponge and repeated the steps until the water from the sponge was clean and there was no more energon. The medic picked up the sponge and rinsed out the bucket. Then the process started all over again. Wheeljack knelt down by Ratchet. He tried to put his servo on his shoulder but the medic shrugged him off.

"It's not done…" Wheeljack watched for a moment before quietly walking outside and shutting the door. The inventor slid down onto the floor and stared up at the ceiling.

-(That night)-

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker both suddenly bolted upright in their shared recharge berth. They looked at each other with big grins on their faces.

"I know what Jazz was talking about!"


	3. Chapter 3

A medic's last hope

Ch. 3: Memories do not like to be forgotten

Sethblackwolf

Disclaimer: Same as chapter one.

Bluestreak groaned as he heard Sunstreaker and Sideswipe yell through the wall.

"Jeez! Some of us are trying to get some recharge. Not that I will be able to anyhow. Frag cute Decepticon medics and their psychotic bed side manners. Wait… Did I say cute? What's cute about a crazy mech? Well…" Bluestreak started to drift off into recharge. "… He does remind me of someone…" The sniper did not recharge peacefully.

_Bluestreak was waiting in the rec room for someone… Was it Bumblebee? No… Gears? No, it was none of the minibots. The sniper looked up at the sound of the door opening. Ratchet! But… something wasn't right. Something told him the Ratchet wasn't supposed to be there. Bluestreak shook the feeling off. Did Ratchet know who he was looking for? The grey mech started to walk towards the medic only to stop dead in his tracks. What he saw made his energon run cold. Ratchet had that same disturbed smile as… as… The room went cold and dark. Suddenly Bluestreak was on his back and bound to a flat, wet surface. Ratchet was looking down at him with a laser scalpel._

_ "It's a good thing no one can hear you scream…"_

Bluestreak woke up with a gasp. He checked his chronometer.

"Slag it!" The sniper was in recharge for less than five hours. "I got to get out of here. I can't go back into recharge like this. But what can I do? I know! Wheeljack… I'll talk to Wheeljack!" He headed out of his quarters and to the labs. For some reason Bluestreak's spark did a happy flutter at the mention of the inventor. He knocked on the doors.

"Come in!"

-( In the labs)-

Wheeljack was putting away his equipment when he heard a knock on the doors of his sanctuary.

"Come in!" The inventory was pleasantly surprised when Bluestreak opened the doors. The smile left his faceplates though, when he saw what condition the sniper was in. "Wow Bluestreak, you look… tired." The grey mech sighed as he stumbled into the lab.

"You have no idea! I can't get a bit of recharge! It's all Ratchet's fault! If he wasn't so darn scary all of the time th-." The inventor cut him off.

"What do you mean that it's all Ratchet's fault?" He asked as he handed the grey mech an energon cube.

"Oh! Ratchet's really not at fault. It's just that I had a nightmare and he was in it. But that's just silly. We don't get nightmares. We have corrupted memory files that try to play during recharge but nothing like what happens to the humans when they sleep. I don't get it. I have no memory of getting any of my files corrupted." Bluestreak took a pause as he gulped down the cube.

"Why don't you ask Ratchet to defrag you?" Wheeljack winced as Bluestreak sprayed energon all over the front of his chassis. He pulled out a cleaning rag from subspace on proceeded to clean himself off, chuckling at the snipers spluttered apology.

"I'm so sorry Wheeljack! I'm fine. I promise I'm fine. There's no need for me to go to Ratchet!" A sense of dread started to creep up on Wheeljack.

"Exactly what happened in the dream to make you so afraid of Ratchet?" Bluestreak took a deep breath.

"Well the first thing that scared me was his smile. It wasn't anything like his rare smiles. It looked like a mixed of insanity and sincerity; almost like he believed that something messed up was the truth. Then I was strapped down to something wet. It looked like I was in a Decepticon Med Bay. Ratchet appeared and he… he said… that it was a good thing that no one could hear me scream." The grey sniper shuddered and leaned over to rest against Wheeljack. "Do you mind if I recharge here?"

"Sure, let me pull out the spare cot." While he was doing this Wheeljack thought that it was about time he and his brother had a little _talk_.


	4. Rupture

A Medic's Last Hope

Ch.4: A Rupture

Sethblackwolf

A/N: Thanks so much for reading and reviewing after my long absence. I changed the lyrics a little bit to fit with the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or this song.

Jazz was known for his awesome parties and this one was no different. It had everything a good party can ask for; great music, good food, and high grade. High grade; it's the start of a mess that might be too big for anyone to handle.

Looking back, Sunstreaker would have to say that it started in the middle of the party. Everyone was getting a little tipsy. Sideswipe hung off his brother's arm and mock whispered into his audio.

"So, Sunny… What are we going to do about Ratchet?" Sunstreaker scowled and shrugged his brother off.

"Don't call me Sunny!" He sighed. "It's not like we can call him out on it. The slagger put enough dents into the both of us to make us look like colored golf balls the last time we tried that!" Sideswipe looked thoughtful.

"Do you think that we were being too subtle?" Again Sunstreaker shrugged.

"It's not like that matters now. What we need is a plan."

"Alright, give me a mo-!" Sunstreaker felt his twin's shock over their bond.

"What is it?" Sideswipe just pointed ahead of them and the yellow twin almost roared in rage at the sight. Ratchet, dragged to the party by Optimus, was obviously over energized and feebly swatting at Jolt's wandering servos. Sunstreaker made to stomp over but Sides threw his arm out in front of his brother to stop him.

"If you do anything to Jolt right now it will only cause more problems for us." Suddenly the music turned off and Jazz took the stage. He held up a servo to stop the outcry of upset partygoers.

"Alright everyone! It's time for a sing off! Smokescreen, get your camera ready. It's about to get a little more interesting in here. Sideswipe smirked.

"Bro, I have an idea…"

_ (With Ratchet) _

_'This just will not do!'_ Ratchet grumbled to himself as Jolt took another swipe at his aft. Really, the kid obviously had too much to drink if he didn't notice the killing aura around Ratchet. The medic was quickly losing control of himself. _'If this idiot tries to grab what's not his then he's gonna have to learn the hard way why I'm called Chop Shop!'_ A disturbingly sweet smile took over his faceplates as he was about to turn on the other bot.

"It's obvious that he doesn't want you. So why don't go run along and let us big bots spend some time together." Ratchet swerved around to find Sunstreaker smirking at him. Jolt looked like he was about to say something but one glared sent him packing. The yellow twin looked back at Ratchet to see him visibly calm down. The medic looked at him.

"As thankful as I am for the intervention, what do you want Sunstreaker?" Suddenly there was an uproar by the stage. Ratchet's optics widened when he saw Sideswipe on the stage. The red twin winked at him from across the room,

"I was thinking about asking you to dance." Sunstreaker said before his twin started to sing.

Everybody's looking for love. Oh. Oh.

Aint that the reason you're at this club. Oh. Oh.

You aint gonna find a dance with him. No. Oh.

Got a better solution for you boy. Oh. Oh.

The yellow twin held out his servo. "Come on Ratchet, take a chance on us."

Just stay with me now. Say the word and we'll go.

I'll be your teacher. I'll show you the ropes.

You'll see a side of love you've never known.

I can see it going down, going down.

Ratchet took the yellow twin's hand and allowed himself to be led across the dance floor.

In my head, I see you all over me.

In my head, you fulfill my fantasy.

You'll be screaming no.

In my head, its going down.

In my head, its going down.

In my head. Yeah. In my head. Oh yeah.

Some dudes know all the right things to say.

When it comes down to it, it's just a game.

Instead of talking let me demonstrate. Yeah.

Get down to business let's skip foreplay.

Just leave with me now. Say the word and we'll go.

I'll be your teacher. I'll show you the ropes.

You'll see a side of love you've never known.

I can see it going down, going down.

In my head, I see you all over me.

In my head, you fulfill my fantasy.

You'll be screaming no.

In my head, it's going down.

In my head, it's going down.

In my head.

Jazz watched with a smirk on his face as Ratchet and Sunstreaker danced to Sideswipe's song. He didn't think that any of them were all that overcharged either. Sideswipe sang too well and Ratchet and Sunstreaker weren't stumbling around each other.

Break it down. Ay-oh. Come on. Ay-oh. Ay-oh.

You singing to me baby in my head right now. Ay-oh. Ay-oh. Come on.

He'll be screaming out when it all goes down.

Just leave with me now. Say the word and well go. We can go.

I'll be your teacher. I'll show you the ropes.

You'll see a side of love you've never known.

I can see it going down, going down.

Unfortunately; all good things come to an end. Sensing a violent vibe, Jazz looked over his shoulder, just in time to see Wheeljack storm past him and towards the dancing couple.

In my head, I see you all over me.

In my head, you fulfill my fantasy.

You'll be screaming no.

In my head, it's going down.

In my head, it's going down.

Ratchet and Sunstreaker could faintly hear Jazz shouting at them in the background but it faded just like everything else. At first Sunstreaker thought it was just because they were so focused on each other but he could feel worry come from his brother's spark. Ratchet turned around.

"Wheeljack? What's wro-?" Wheeljack punched the medic hard enough to send him to the floor.

"That was for Bluestreak!" Quickly Sunstreaker grabbed the engineer in a choke-hold. Both Jazz and Sideswipe moved to separate them when they saw Ratchet move into a crouch and clutch his left arm to himself; a buzzing sound arising. In an act of agility that would put Blurr to shame; he turned around and threw what looked like a punch towards his friend. "Aurgg!" Wheeljack stumbled back and clutched at his facemask. Energon was flowing heavily from a cut that went so deep it dug into the faceplates. The room was silent as Ratchet's arm was reviled and had a buzz saw where his servo should have been.

"Nothing I ever do is good enough for you. Is it Jackie?" Ratchet's voice came out, sickly sweet. Wheeljack's energon went cold. _Not here, not in front of everyone!_ The medic turned around and even Prime took a step back. Ratchet's smile got even wider as he nodded towards the wound. "That's for ruining my night, brother. If I find out that you have ruined my chances then you will not get off so easily." The inventor's optics widened as he felt a change in his brother's spark the he hadn't felt in a long time. _What have I done? There were cracks in the shield but we were always able to fix them! Oh no!_

After so millennia…Chop Shop had returned.


	5. The Chop Shop reopens

A Medic's Last Hope

Ch. 5: The Chop Shop reopens

Sethblackwolf

A/N: Short chapter, I'm sorry! I'm trying to fight off a writer's block. The next chapter will be longer and deals more with the Decepticons.

_'I don't like this. Ratch's EM field is going haywire!' _Jazz thought as he measured the field around the medic. _'It feels sickening, like walking through a sewer and having…things stick to you.'_ The party was silent; someone must have turned off the music when Ratchet attacked Jack.

_** :Prowl babe?:**_

_** :I'm here Jazz.:**_

_** :Get Ironhide and First Aid in here. Something's taintin' Ratch' EM field.:**_

_** :Do you think that's what making Ratchet act like this?:**_

_** :Not sure, that's why I need 'Hide and 'Aid here. Ratch'll need to be sedated and I don't think he's going down without a fight.:**_

_** :Jazz?:**_

_** :Not now Prowler.: **_Prowl wanted to argue further but he noticed Optimus get in between Ratchet and Wheeljack.

"Stand down Ratchet!" The Autobot leader attempted to order the medic. However, the mech just looked at him and smiled mockingly

"Well, well, well… Optimus Prime, still all talk and no action, I see. I keep telling you that there's no way you'll be able to do anything if you act like that." Optimus started to look uncomfortable. "Remember what happened at Tyger Pax?" The big rig's optics went wide at the reminder of his fallen hometown. Prowl stood next to Optimus and whispered into his audio.

"First Aid and Ironhide are on their way to sedate Ratchet and take him to the med bay. Jazz says that something's tainting Ratchet's EM Field." Unfortunately, Ratchet heard. The deranged medic smirked.

"They're more than welcome to try. Wait… Jazz?" A look of realization came to the mech before it was replaced by a smile as he leaned around Optimus to look at the saboteur. "Oh you little slag. Are you sure about that Jazz? Are you a medic?" Ratchet takes a step forward while looking down at himself. "I feel fine, in fact…" He snaps his head up, buzz saw coming back to life. "…I've never felt BETTER!" Ratchet lunges at Jazz. The special ops mech dodges and before Racthet can make another attempt, a wave of party goers charge him. It's pandemonium as Ratchet saws his way through the crowd. Optimus charges forward as Cliffjumper gets his arm sawed off. Both mechs go down into a puddle of energon. Ratchet flips Optimus over and jams his fingers into a joint at the base of the leader's skull. Suddenly the big rig flops down, paralyzed. Ratchet clicked his glossa and shook his head. "Man, you suck Prime!" He raised the buzz saw. "Say goodnight-gack!" Ironhide tackled the mech and the fighting started anew.

"Ratchet it's me! Calm down, you almost killed Optimus!" Unfortunately Ironhide left himself wide open for Ratchet to slice his throat with the saw. The room freezes as Ratchet gets a spray of energon to the face. Ironhide goes down while Ratchet stares up at the cealing, a dazed smile on his face.

"Rach'?" The medic turned his head to stare at Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. His dazed smile turned into a deranged grin.

"Hey cuties, sorry but I'm not Ratchet. I wouldn't say no to you though." A murmer started to rise after that comment. The three ignored them. "My name's Chop Shop." He sighed. "It looks like I have head out now." His attention turned to the rest of the party goers. "Sorry for ruining your party! Bye!" He ran out, no one was brave enough to try to stop him. Unknown to everyone, a mechanical bird was watching the scene.

_ ( Decepticon Base) _

Megatron watched the footage with a smirk on his lips.

"This is the best news I've had all month."

"Sir?" A sharp, young voice asked from the shadows. The tyrant glanced at a set of red optics.

"This is before your time, commander." Megatron nodded towards the screenshot of Ratchet. "Prime's CMO used to be mine." The optics tilted to the side. "I had discovered something that brings out the worst in a mech. I used it to turn a young but talented medic into a torturer. Unfortunately, the fragger stabbed me with it and I had to use the rest of the substance to try to make an antidote." Megatron dismissed the conversation with a wave of his hand. The gladiator gave his servant a look. "Barricade, you and your team better be ready, I've got a job for you."

_( Sunny's and Sides' Quarters (2 hours later)) _

The twins laid on their shared berth as Sunstreaker stared at the ceiling, his fists clenched. Sideswipe stared at his brother.

**:What happened bro?:**

** :I don't know. One moment we were dancing. Sides, he really did love dancing with me!:**

** :I know, I felt it too. But what was with Wheeljack laying one on him? And then Ratchet called him brother, right after he slashed him with a buzz saw. I didn't know he even had a buzz saw!:**

** :He didn't feel right.: **Sideswipe stopped his internal monolog to focus on his brother. The yellow frontliner never took his optics off the ceiling as he continued. **:Even before we danced there was something dark about him. It wasn't even like when he throws his wrenches at us. This feeling, for the first time in a long while, I… actually feared someone.: **Sideswipe nodded.

**:Yeah… and I get the feeling that Optimus and Jazz are hiding something from us.:** Sunstreaker growled and finally took his optics off the ceiling. A dark smirk creased his faceplates.

**:Why don't you and I go 'ask' them what's going on?:**

** :This is going to be fun!:**


	6. Chapter 6

A Medic's Last Hope

Ch. 6:

Sethblackwolf

A/N: Don't own anything except Scabbs, Chop Shop, and whatever cannon fodder I can find.

Warning: ATTEMPTED RAPE (Don't worry, the almost victim makes it out ok) *I refuse to write rape stories, I can write murder and torture but I draw the line at rape*

'_It burns! Where am I? Why do my coolant lines feel like they're on fire?' _Chop Shop ran out into the desert, intakes heaving with agony. Memory flies raced through his processor like a cyberrabbit running from a turbofox. The memory of a young medic walking in a street before being attacked jolted the mech out of his internal monolog.

'_I remember, I screamed and called for help… and no one came! HOW COULD THEY? I HELPED them, I HEALED them. Yet when it was my turn to need help THEY… they closed their doors, and covered their windows. Why?'_ Chop Shop finally collapsed in the middle of the desert, coolant tears flowing from his optics. _'My brother tried…' _An image of Wheeljack's broken body reaching out to him, fear in his optics, formed in the forefront of Chop Shop's processor. Just as suddenly as it appeared the memory was pushed aside by another. This one was darker, showing the medic being strapped down and injected with a deep, sinister, purple substance.

Chop Shop clutched his helm and screamed in sync with his memory counterpart. He shuddered and convulsed, scratching himself and tearing open an energon line. Pink energon poured out before turning into that evil purple hue. Chop Shop purged, staining his paintjob. Slowly, his screaming settled out, turning into maniacal laughter. He no longer clutched his midsection in agony, but in mirth. Suddenly a voice brought him back, reluctantly, to reality.

"Well, well Autobot… I don't see anything that you should find funny. In fact, this seems to me that this is something to take advantage of. Right, boys?" Chop Shop lazily looked up, too tired to move. Three Decepticons moved to surround the downed mech.

'_What is with everyone and assuming that I'm an Autobot? Is my reputation that much in shatters?'_ Apparently the rouge mechs didn't take to kindly to being ignored. Two of the brutes grabbed Chop Shop and hauled him to his peds as the 'leader' focused on punching the slag out of him. It didn't seem to have any effect as Chop Shop still ignored them. _'Wow… if this is the limit to what the Decepticons are capable of then it's a wonder that the war is still going on and we're not being executed. I don't think the Autobots are even this pathetic…'_

"Hey, Scabbs, isn't this the Autobot CMO, Ratchet?"

'_That name again…_' One of the mechs holding him up asked. Scabbs, the mech dealing the damage, paused and glanced at his victim.

"Yeah, he is!" A sick smirk crept across his faceplates as he glanced up and down the medic's lax form. "He's cute for an Autobot. How about we have some fun with him before returning his shell to the Autobots?" That got a reaction from Chop Shop. His head snapped up and, using strength that no one thought he possessed, tossed the two mechs holding his arms away and kicked Scabbs in his interface panel, denting it and sending the pervert back quite a few yards. Chop Shop brought out his saw and charged.

"Say goodb-gack!" In midstride, Chop Shop was brought to his knees again as another wave of pain ran through him. Energon started to seep out of his optics. "Primus!"

"Primus won't help you now, you little slag!" Hands forced Chop Shop down on his back, pinning his legs and arms to the ground. Scabbs spat into his face before reaching down for Chop Shop's interface panel. He almost touched it when a sharp, dark voice cut through.

"Pathetic…" A black streak flew past Scabbs with a haunting 'shink' sound. For a moment nothing happened, then a thin line of energon encompassed the Decepticon's throat. The next moment the mech's head separated from its body, propelled upwards by the pressure in the energon lines. The remaining mechs were paralyzed in shock as they proceeded to be covered in energon. Slowly they forced their optics away from the body and onto the new arrival. A black and White Praxian stood, back towards them and Scabbs energon spattered on his arm blade. The mech looked over his shoulder and pinned the ones holding Chop Shop with an icy stare from four optics. Chop Shop felt his captors shake and loosen their grip. He didn't move, something about this bot called to him.

"B-B-Barricade? What are you doing?"

"Stopping an insult to the Decepticon Army." A young voice spoke out from the mech, as cold as the artic and as unforgiving as the acid rain of Cybertron. "I can't believe that such filth is allowed in the ranks." The other Decepticons chuckled nervously.

"Being a little bit of a good two shoes, aren't cha, Barricade? It's not like Megatron would care if something happens to an Autobot."On of the mechs holding Chop Shop said. _'It's true, in the Decepticons it's survival of the fittest. Why would the kid care? Does he have illusions about the Decepticons? I wouldn't think so with what he did with that sicko.'_ Chop Shop thought. Barricade's optics narrowed. Suddenly he charged, driving his arm blade into the mech's abdomen. He flipped backwards, dragging his blade up the length of the mech's body until it popped out at the base of the neck. Landing, Barricade charged the mech again and gave him the same treatment as he gave Scabbs. As the head fell to the ground Barricade kicked it at Chop Shop's remaining captor, hitting him in the head. He gave them a dark smirk.

"I'm not Megatron and you're right, he wouldn't care. But you know what? He wouldn't care that I killed you three either." _'Definitely not, my mistake.'_ Forgetting about loyalty, if he even had any, the last mech transformed into a truck and high-tailed in out of there. Barricade watched him leave, a finger pressed to the side of his head before dropping it and turning to Chop Shop. "I've been sent by Megatron to bring you to the Nemesis. Can you transform?" He asked with an air of someone talking about the weather, energon still dripping down his frame although it was obviously cooling. Chop Shop looked at the mech like he should be in a padded cell, never mind the fact that Chop Shop would be in the one right next to him.

"You care about me?" Barricade shrugged.

"Not really, I just don't want to have to drag your sorry aft back to base." The medic growled.

"I'll remember that for when you come into my med bay for your physical…" Chop Shop then looked back at the runaway mech, now almost to the other side of the desert. "You're just going to let him go?" The Praxian cocked his head to the side and smirked.

"What makes you think I'm letting him get away?" Suddenly there was a large crack, like lightning, and then the truck mech exploded. Chop Shop whirled around, a blaster in his hands. He stopped when he heard Barricade chuckle. Looking back he saw Barricade with a finger to the side of his head, obviously on a comlink. "Nice shot, Motorhead." An excided voice came over the air.

_**:~ Thank you sir! This gun is awesome! Did you see how he blew up?~:**_ Barricade rolled all four of his optics and waved his hand in a 'hurry up' motion as the mech called Motorhead droned on and on. Finally he just sighed and cut the connection mid rant.

"Damn! I think that kid is worse than Bluestreak!" He glanced at Chop Shop. "That was one of my subordinates." He offered as an explanation. Chop Shop just shook his head.

"And what if that fragger ran the other way?" Barricade nodded to the other side of the desert. Two vehicles were driving towards them. "They would of taken care of it." Chop Shop was not impressed. "Sheesh! There's no pleasing you, is there?"


	7. Back at Base

A Medic's Last Hope

Ch. 7: Back at Base

Sethblackwolf

A/N: Don't own. I hope Sunstreaker's and Sideswipe's argument is easy enough to understand. I forgot who's the head Science Officer. I'm just going to say Perceptor.

Autobot Base -

Optimus sighed as Sunstreaker and Sideswipe burst into his emergency meeting with his officers. Prowl stood up quickly.

"Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, this is a private meeting between Prime and his officers. Leave now before you're thrown in the brig!" Sunstreaker flipped him off before turning to the Prime.

"Prime, with all due respect…" There was a snort of laughter somewhere behind him. "…Sideswipe and I want to know what in the Pit happened with Ratchet and neither of us are leaving until we do." Most of the mechs in attendance gasped at the audacity the frontliners showed. Sideswipe stepped up.

"Throwing us in the brig won't do anything but delay us and besides, with what happened you can't afford to put any mech on the sidelines. You can't just keep this to the higher ups." Prowl snapped back into focus.

"What is it that you suppose we do? Open up this meeting to everyone and have a riot on our hands made up of every mech who wants revenge on Ratchet?" Sunstreaker turned to the SIC.

"No but if us lower level grunts know _nothing_ of what's going on then there will be a riot, too many mechs saw what happened and won't like being in the dark. This shouldn't be kept to the '_need to know' _personel, you of all mechs should know that. Didn't one of your _sons _pay the price the last time you adhered to that mindset in a big situation like this?" Deadly silence followed that statement. Then suddenly the room erupted into noise as Prowl leapt over the table and threw himself at the yellow frontliner.

"You fragging, pit-spawn creation of a pleasure drone! Don't you ever bring him into this again!" The tactician spat as he furiously punched Sunstreaker. Optimus and Sideswipe jumped up to separate the two. It took Optimus bodily picking up Prowl to succeed; even then he only calmed down when Jazz wrapped his arms around him and brought their foreheads together. The TIC turned to the twins, his visor a low glow.

"That was a low blow Sunstreaker." For once Sunstreaker looked ashamed, bringing up that painful past not only hurt Prowl but Jazz as well. Carriers always took the loss of a sparkling hard. Most of the time harder than the Sire although, if Prowl's reaction was anything to go by, Sires felt the pain more than anyone knew.

"Jazz, I'm so so-" Jazz cut him off and turned back to his mate.

"But you have a point." He never took his visor off of Prowl as he spoke through their sparkbound.

_**: He's right Prowl.:**_ Anger flowed through the bond.

_**: I don't care! He shouldn't of brought, brought… him into this:**_ This time there was sadness from Jazz.

_**: After all this time, it still hurts you to much to say his name. Do you still feel guilty for what happened?:**_

_**: How can I not? I should of known what they were doing to him.:**_

_**: How could you have known? They didn't…:**_

_**:He managed to contact me before the… before everything went to the Pit.:**_

_**:WHAT?: **_Jazz wanted to scream, to shout, but the overwhelming guilt coming from his bondmate bade him to keep his silence.

_**:I wouldn't listen. I told him there were just some things he just had to deal with and to hold out until everything was done. I didn't know that-:**_ Jazz cut him off.

_**:That a very fragged up group of council members forced him into kill or be killed situations where he only 'passed' when he killed every other student set up against him?:**_ Jazz forced himself away from his bondmate to the surprise of everyone. The saboteur was so enraged that he brought their fight out into the open.

"You didn't even care did ya? Is that the real reason you can't say his name? You didn't want your _illustrious_ reputation ruined-!" Slap! The meeting was just full of surprises as everyone tried to understand that Prowl just smacked his mate. The voice that came out of the tactician was cold, collected, and ruthless.

"How _dare_ you to say that I didn't love our youngest, out of all our children I loved him the _most_. There's not a day that goes by that I don't regret what happened and how I got to the _'school'_ too late." There was a subtle cough and Optimus spoke.

"I know that that's a serious memory for you but perhaps we should get back at the matter at hand. Prowl, I think it's a good idea to let Sunstreaker and Sideswipe into the meeting. After all, they were the ones who had the most interaction with Ratchet during the party, especially Sunstreaker." At that he turned to the yellow twin. "What happened Sunstreaker?" The frontliner shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing happened, one moment Ratchet and I were dancing and in the next Wheeljack punched Ratchet. The rest you and everyone else knows." Next, Sideswipe spoke up.

"Didn't you sense anything? You and I can both tell when Ratchet is about to go off the handle." There was a sarcastic snort from Sunstreaker.

"This wasn't Ratchet going off the handle. This… this was like Ratchet died and someone else is using his body. Whatever that was… it wasn't Ratchet." A shudder came over the golden twin. "For the first time in a long while I was actually afraid of someone." Sideswipe nodded.

"I think everyone was afraid of Ratchet. He tore into Ironhide like we…"

"…tear into Decepticons…" Optimus gave a start.

"What are you talking about Sunstreaker? You think Ratchet, for some reason thought that Ironhide, his best friend next to Wheeljack, was a Decepticon?" Sunstreaker shook his head.

"No but he definitely didn't see him as a friend." A pensive looked crossed his face. He glanced at Jazz. "He seemed to recognize you though, and he called himself Chop-"

"Chop Shop." Jazz nodded. "When I was under deep cover in the Decepticons their CMO was him."

"When were you in deep cover?"

"It was before you two joined the Ark and before… Runner was born. Anyway, Chop Shop looked a lot like Ratchet."

"And you didn't think to bring that up when he applied for the position of Chief Medical Officer?" Red Alert screeched.

"Don't tell me how to do my job Red Alert. He went through a through hack and nothing was out of the ordinary." Perceptor spoke up.

"What about his spark?" All of the other mechs looked at him. Optimus's optics faded as he scanned his memory banks.

"According to our previous CMO there were unusual scarring on his spark." Everyone gasped, scarring on ones spark put the poor mech in constant agony and was often unfixable.

"Unusual?" Optimus vented.

"It seemed dripping with-"

"A dark purple liquid that seemed to make the examiner feel both sick and envigorated at the same time? I don't suppose that the CMO had to do almost a complete overhaul of his systems due to destroyed tubing?" The leader leaned forwards.

"How did you know that? I didn't think you read other mechs' medical files.

"I don't really, I just think I know what we're really dealing with."

"What are we dealing with Perceptor?" Just then Skyfire barged in.

"Forgive me Optimus Prime but I felt that Perceptor had to see this." He held up a vial full of a dark purple substance. "Hound and Trailbraker found it while following Ratchet's tracks. Hound touched it and started to act weird."

"Weird?" The shuttle nodded.

"Yes, according to Trailbreaker he started to sway a bit before turning and attacking him."

"Hound attacked Trailbreaker?" Jazz could believe it.

"During the fight Trailbreaker noticed that Hound had a lot more strength than normal, managing to pick him up with one arm and throw him. Thankfully whatever got into him didn't last. He collapsed and is in the med bay under supervision." Perceptor thanked him before taking the vial and dismissing him. The microscope held the vial to his optics, twisting it this way and that way, a disturbed look on his face.

"I knew it."

"Perceptor, what is it?" Optimus asked. Without taking his optics off the substance Perceptor answered.

"The answer to what's wrong with Ratchet. Dark Energon…"


	8. Darkness

A Medic's Last Hope

Ch. 8: Darkness

Sethblackwolf

A/N: Don't own. I'm so sorry for the delay. Please remember I don't know the complete cast of Prime's top officers. I'm also switching the timeline around a little bit. Oh well, most fanfics can be considered AU anyway. Next chapter is Ratchet's past and Chop Shop with the Decepticons.

"Perceptor, what is Dark Energon?" Optimus asked, taking the vial from the microscope and examining it.

"Dark Energon is a corrupted version of the energon that sustains and powers us. Religiously, as energon is the 'blood' of Primus, Dark Energon is similarly the 'blood' of Unicron. Supposedly, it was released by Unicron after his first battle with the thirteen original Transformers. Dark Energon is so potent that one drop can corrupt any amount of regular energon." The microscope looked at all of the stricken optics in the room. "Or so the legends go..."

"What does it do?" Blaster wondered out loud.

"Besides what I just told you? It supercharges any Transformer who has been infused with it, making them stronger, faster, more powerful...and more aggressive. Studies show that Dark Energon turns pain into pleasure, rendering any blows inflicted on a user futile. However, it also acts as a powerful narcotic, causing addiction. In the labs, Dark Energon withdrawal turns the user into a raving brute desperate to do anything for more. If the craving is not satisfied, the user devolves to a beast-like state and eventually dies."

"Wait, wait, wait... Mechs were experimented on?" Sideswipe spoke up before turning on his Prime. "And you allowed it?" Optimus look appalled that the frontliner could even think that he would allow experimentation on his own people.

"I knew nothing of this!" Perceptor tried to explain but was cut off by Prowl.

"These experiments were shut down long before Sentinel Prime offlined. The High Council decided that nothing could be gained by exposure so everything was covered up. Sentinel Prime didn't know. Therefore the knowledge was never passed down to Optimus Prime."

"What do you mean passed down? Sentinel died before he could give anything to Optimus. For pits sake, that's why Optimus Prime was made Prime in the first place!" Prowl, Jazz, and even Blaster groaned at Sunstreaker's question. Perceptor tried to explain.

"Well you see-..."

"You are so blond Sunstreaker!" Blaster laughed. "The Matrix of Leadership holds the memories of all the Primes. How could you not know that? Everyone knows that! Frag, I think even the Decepticons know that!" Sunstreaker growled at the stereo while Sideswipe pretended to have a panic attack.

"I don't remember being told this! Nobody told me this! Why doesn't anybody tell me these things?" Prowl was not amused.

"It's not so much that no one told you anything but more like you two were not listening." Jazz chuckled into his fist as the twins glared at the SIC.

"How in the Pit did you know about that 'Dark Energon' anyway? Didn't you just say that it was kept under wraps?" Perceptor took a deep breath and … was cut off again. This time by Jazz.

"Cool it Sunny! Prowler was head enforcer on the case." Meanwhile, Perceptor was grumbling to himself.

"Fragging rude sparklings, not letting me finish what I was saying. I wonder if the Decepticons have to deal with this slag. Of course they don't, they'd kill the rude spawns of the Pit. Oh... so tempting..." Red Alert started to twitch and inch away from the murderous pacifist. Going back to the main argument...

"Oh? So now you're defending him. Just a few minutes ago he slapped you silly." Sideswipe put out. The T.I.C spluttered.

"O-of course he did, I deserved it!" Optimus slapped a hand to his forehead and shook his head, optics off-lining in embarrassment. Blaster couldn't help but take the bait.

"You know, that's what every victim of an abusive relationship says." Prowl stormed over to the communications officer.

"How dare you! I have never abused Jazz!" Blaster held up his hands in surrender.

"Alright! Alright already! I took that too far." The stereo gave them a sly look. "A little defensive there, could it be that you two are into that sort of thing?" Perceptor tried one last time to speak.

"If we could just-…"

"Is that any of your business Blaster?" Optimus asked.

"Frag it all…" Perceptor grumbled before slamming his hands on the table and standing. "Slag all of you to the Pit and back! If one of you so much as coughs while someone else is talking, so help me Primus, I will dismantle you myself and use your parts in my experiments!" The microscope leaned forward and the rest, even Prowl and Optimus, collectively leaned back. "Do I make myself clear?" As one they nodded. Perceptor smirked. "Good!" He sat back down. Optimus hesitantly raised his hand. "Yes Prime?"

"Are you alright Preceptor? Do you need to see Ratchet?" The big rig's optics widened. "Oh!" Perceptor nodded.

"Yes! That's right! Ratchet has gone A.W.O.L., apparently suffering withdrawls of Dark Energon, and all we seem able to talk about is Prowl's and Jazz's interface life. Which, for the record, that is something I DON'T NEED TO KNOW ABOUT!" The group winced. "Now Prowl," Perceptor said, turning to the S.I.C. "Please share with the class your experience with Dark Energon." The Datsun nodded.

"A short time before the beginning of the war there was an epidemic of missing mech cases from Kaon, Praxus, and even Iacon. As far as we could tell there was no relationship between the missing mechs. They were all different models, ages and castses. They all went missing at different times too, which led the enforcers to believe at first that none of these crimes were related. It was actually Red Alert who was able to find a connection." Red Alert took his cue to speak, warily glancing at Perceptor for permission.

"It turned out that thoses details were the connection. What each case had in common was that they were all crimes of opportunity. Each mech or femme went missing at a time were the least amount of people would notice." Optimus raised his hand.

"What set this off as more than the regular trafficking case? Cybertron had more than its fair share of scum." This time Jazz answered.

"The average of missing persons cases for the whole of Cybertron was 197 per month at that time. Durring this that number skyrocketed to 372 per month for those three cities alone." The group's optics widened.

"Excuse but wait a second!" Sideswipe yelled. "That's almost double! If the amount of people increased that much then why didn't an alert go out? Isn't that what happens when things get that bad?" Red Alert looked down in shame and Prowl gave the red frontliner a look of pity for his naivety.

"Sideswipe," He spoke softly. "Most of the people that went missing were those of the lowest caste. No one cared until some of Tower mechs went missing." Sunstreaker snorted.

"What else is new? What does this has to do with Ratchet?" Prowl looked comptimplative for a moment. He turned to Red Alert.

"Now that I think about it, wasn't that when Ratchet went on a vacation from politics?" Hound poked Perceptor in the arm.

"Ratchet was a politician?" The microscope nodded.

"Yes, and a good one. It is strange that Ratchet, who was defending the lower caste, left right before that same caste started to get abducted."

"You don't think…? Ratchet would never do that!" Blaster picked up the conversation.

"Ratchet would never hurt his friends and yet he slit Ironhide's throat! We need to accept the facts that Ratchet is not who we thought he was and that he might very well be a Decepticon sp-!" The door slammed open to show Wheeljack standing there with his mask off and the Pit in his optics. Scars crisscrossed all over his face with the newest one, the one caused by Ratchet at the party, still showing signs of being freshly welded.

"You slagging bastard! My brother would never betray the Auto- whoa!" Wheeljack barely dodged a blast from Perceptor's cannon.

"Perceptor!" Optimus shouted, appalled at the lack of restraint the normally quiet and polite scientist had. The microscope looked unapologetic.

"I gave a fair warning."

"Wheeljack wasn't here to hear that warning!" Perceptor tilted his head.

"Oh, sorry." He said, not sounding sorry at all. Jazz, seeing that Optimus was about ready to deck the scientist, spoke up.

"What do you mean, your brother?" Wheeljack looked furious at himself.


End file.
